Unorthodox
by LadyPixieDust
Summary: Their relationship wasn't an orthodox one, and neither of them ever minded that- A collection of drabbles centering around Meripunzel.
1. Wisps

**A/N: Beep, beep hop in loser we're off to the magical world of crossover couples, the only couples I ever seem to ship. Rapunzel and Merida are my two favorite Disney ladies and the only three that even come _close_ to the love I have for the two are Anna, Belle and Mulan. Obviously I must pair them together, obviously. T****he drabbles are set in all kinds of AU's and if they're hard to guess I'll tell you what it is in the author note. The length may range from 50-100 drabbles and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: Brave and Tangled are the individual properties of the animation studios Disney and Pixar, Pixar is owned by Disney. Both are owned by Disney, but that's beside the point, the point is if I owned them I sure as hell wouldn't be writing _fanfiction_ about the two because all of my fantasies would be so cannon it'd tear a hole in the space-time continuum. Disclaimer over.**

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><p>A wisp, that's what appeared in front of Merida and she looked around nervously, she was deep in the forest, completely alone if you didn't count Angus and she had no idea what kind of fate could be waiting for her under these conditions. The last time she'd followed wisps through the forest she'd been a young lass and she'd nearly gotten herself killed and her Father's leg bit off. She wasn't too eager for such events to repeat themselves, especially since her Father was nowhere nearby and if she <em>did<em> get into trouble she'd be on her own when it came to dealing with it.

Her grip on her reigns tightened as she stared at the little blue fairy like creature that continued to beckon her forward with distrust and hesitance. But what showed on her face wasn't all she felt inside, there was also longing, longing to know if a fate awaited her that was different than the one she faced everyday under her Mother's careful watch, she wondered if this wisp would lead her to something more _meaningful_ than a life of dresses and properness and fake smiles. This wisp, it was dangerous because it was tempting and it offered Merida hope, and maybe an _escape_ and these thoughts were what prompted her to make her steed take a step forward, and then another and another until the wind was whipping her hair in every direction and Angus was panting as they followed the disappearing and a reappearing wisps through the forest and to Merida's fate.

She almost didn't care what the wisps led her to as long as it was something unlike the plan her Mother seemed to have for her life, if it be bad she came to it willingly and if it was good she'd thank every God and deity there was, but as she came to a part of the forest unknown to her and the wisps began to lead to what looked like a rock wall Merida thought for once that maybe her Father was right and that things such as magic were all just tricks of the eyes and mind searching for things that were not there.

She tried to stop Angus smoothly before they made contact with the rock but the horse stopped quickly and Merida was thrown off and forward with a startled cry.

Her hands raised to cover her face and she hit the ground hard, but she hadn't made contact with any rock wall, no, the wall had been nothing more than a cave entrance with vines covering it. Or that's what Merida thought as she carefully pushed herself to her hands and knees with a groaned pain only to find yet another wisp beckoning her forward once more and she noticed that there was light streaming in from the other side of the 'cave' which she realized now was more of a small tunnel. She bit her lip looking back towards the vines where she saw the silhouette of her horse nervously standing just outside the entrance of the tunnel and she wondered if she should just forget the wisps and ride back home but it took only a second for her to decide that coming so far and walking away now would be silly and she slowly got to her feet.

"You better lead me to something good." The red-head muttered as she parted the vines and stepped into the prettiest little clearing she'd ever seen with flowers abundant and a beautiful waterfall behind a very, very tall tower. And as if the tower itself wasn't strange enough, at the very top of it was a window, which seemed to be the only entrance and cascading from the window was unbraided rope that looked soft to the touch and caught the light of the sun making it seem like liquid gold as it fluttered lightly with the wind.

When Merida walked closer to it and reached out in silent awe to touch it and it slipped through her fingers like the finest silk she gasped realizing it was _hair_.

And she gasped again when she looked up, searching for the owner of such strange and beautiful locks and found a girl, who couldn't be much older than she was, precariously leaning out of the tower's window with an expression of both amazement and terror. Both were frozen as they tried to take in every detail of each other from such a long distance and at the same time one thought crossed their minds as the last wisp disappeared.

_'Wow'_.

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><p><strong>Words: <strong>784<strong>**


	2. Pirates

**A/N:** It's...well...it's pirates. I have nothing more to add to this except I watched "Pirates of The Caribbean" before I wrote this chapter.

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><p>Rapunzel was afraid as she looked around at all the scowling and sinister men that surrounded her. And unlike usual she didn't berate herself for her fear, because this fear was not silly like being afraid of thunder or spiders. This fear was perfectly logical and understandable. What Governor's daughter <em>wouldn't<em> be scared when she was surrounded by pirates and _miles_ away from any decent Human beings or potential saviors?

She was _stuck_, **_trapped_**, and for her safe return a hefty ransom would be demanded no doubt. As cherished as she was to her Father and Mother she was sure it would be paid, no matter how high the number went. But even then she doubted she'd get out of this alive. Pirates were a cut-throat bunch, ones that would much rather slit a few throats then leave a single survivor. Yes, even with a ransom paid she'd probably be killed, unfortunately for her. Because of these suspicions, if not truths, she was having trouble not crying and could barely contain the shivers of fear that raked through her body.

"Well, well, well," Rapunzel whirled around to see a man with white hair and eyes as blue as the sea they were sailing approaching her. She instinctively took a few steps back only to bump into a large man with a hook for a hand and she would have screamed if not for the gag in her mouth. She felt like a trapped rat as the man came even closer to her, an amused smirk on his lips. ",what do we have here, eh boys?"

Rapunzel flinched when a cool finger began to trace her jaw and tears pricked her eyes at the laughter of the men around her but she blinked them back stubbornly. _**"**I'm a strong girl**"**_, she chanted to herself half-heartedly, trying to stop herself from showing weakness. She was not a coward! Yes she was afraid and, _yes_ she was entirely sure was going to be murdered at some time or another. But she wasn't going to face death like a quivering idiot! No, she'd look both death and her killer right in the eyes with her chin up high and an air of dignity. Because she was a _Corona_.

And how could she have told her parents that she could take care of herself and back down when the chance to prove it was pretesented to her? She couldn't, or else she'd be a liar, and Rapunzel _never_ lied. So with these thoughts in mind she stuck her chin up high, squared her shoulders and scowled up at the man touching her with as much defiance as she could muster. He only chuckled harder.

Her confidence waned. She must look a bit amusing, a bit _weak_, standing there trying to look intimidating when she was gagged and her hands were bound. She entertained the thought of stomping on his foot but decided against it. Brave and foolish were two very different things.

"Out of me way ye' bums!_ Ye' heard me!_ Move it!" A voice that demanded obedience and respect made it's way to Rapunzel's ears and her eyes went wide as saucers. The voice sounded as if it- it did! It belonged to a woman!

Rapunzel stared at said woman who stood just behind her teasing tormentor in awe. She had wild red-hair that looked like it had never seen a comb and wore the clothes of a man. She looked fierce and despite her abundance of scars, grimy face and overall _rugged_ appearance, Rapunzel couldn't help but find her rather...well, beautiful in a wild sort of way.

"Mister Frost!" The woman snapped making the man jump to attention and nearly trip over himself trying to face her quickly enough. And for a moment Rapunzel had thought he was in charge, this was now, _obviously_ not the case.

"Captain Merida!" _**'**So that's her name**'**_, Rapunzel thought it suited her and it sounded nice to, she wished she could say the name herself and test if it felt as good rolling off the tongue as it did to hear it.

"What are ye' doing to the captive?" She demanded hotly.

"Teasing her!" He replied with a cheeky grin, his momentary panic over and Captain Merida rolled her eyes.

"If ye weren't me first mate you'd have gone overboard _long_ ago, Frost."

"Well than lucky me!"

Merida rolled her eyes again and walked around 'Frost' to stand in front of her. She regarded the woman curiously and after a moment of them both staring each other down Merida untied the dirty gag from her mouth...and then gave her an expectant look that made Rapunzel scowl.

"If you want a 'thank you', _Captain_ Merida, you might as well throw me overboard because you won't get it!" Everyone on deck tensed. _No one_, disrespected the Captain. She was a fierce lady whose temper was legendary. The only reason no one died everyday onboard **_"The Red DunBroch"_** was because her crew was her family, but a captive mouthing off! Why, they almost felt _bad_ for the poor girl!

But the reaction everyone got was very different than what was expected. Captain Merida laughed, not a chuckle, a loud, hearty laugh before clapping Rapunzel on the shoulders and giving her a wink. "Quite the little firecracker aren't ye'? Come, let's have a wee chat in me quarters. Mister Frost go get Mister Haddock and then come join us will ye'?"

"Yes ma'am!" Frost nodded before running off to go find this 'Mister Haddock' and Rapunzel groaned.

_"What have I gotten myself into?"_

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><p><strong>Words: 957<strong>


	3. Fair-Play?

**Prompt:** Imagine A and B go to a fair. A tries to win a stuffed animal for B at one of the game booths, but can't seem to get the hang of it, no matter how hard they try. B feels bad when A runs out of money, and pays for a round to assure A that the game is rigged. B gets frustrated themselves when they can't win, and the two of them get into a heated competition to see who can win a prize for the other first.

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><p>"Oh Merida look at that stuffed Chameleon! It's so cute!" Rapunzel suddenly came to a stop and due to their linked hands Merida also stopped, turning to give her girlfriend a questioning look. Rapunzel giddily pointed to a booth over to her left where an old fashioned carnival game of "knock over the bottles" resided.<p>

Merida laughed at the other's infectious excitement, "Wan' me ta' try and win it for ye', Punzie?" Rapunzel lit up even further at the question, jumping up and down as she nodded yes making Merida snort. "Ah'm takin' tha' as a yes. Come on then, let's get'cha ya' tha Chameleon!" Though she had no idea where the blonde would put it with her room already full of stuffed toys she of course had to get it for her. It would be a great winding down gift for the night since they'd _just_ been about to leave and were only taking one last walk around the little fair they'd had quite the enjoyable date in. The perfect end to a perfect night.

She dragged the slightly shorter blonde girl over to the booth with a smile and leaned against the wooden counter. "How much fer three balls?"

The vendor, a slightly older man with lightly greying hair and a bright smile _made_ to sell people things sat three balls in front of the red-head, "Just four, little lady! Going to take a chance and try to win something, eh?"

"Yup." She'd withered slightly at being called 'little lady' but a glance backwards at the still bouncing Rapunzel had her right back on cloud nine. She smacked four dollars onto the wooden counter and waited until the vendor moved out of the way to pick up her 'weapons'. She closed one eye, tongue sticking out a bit as she pulled back her hand, took aim, and fired!

She frowned at having only managed to knock over the top bottle and repeated her process with a shake of her head making her curls fly out and move like a flame. She was the best archer this side of town, winning championship after championship. And she missed? She scoffed, obviously it was just bad luck. She wasn't focused, that was all.

She aimed, pulled back her arm and..."Wha' on Earth?!" She'd missed again! With a growl she threw her last ball with all her might and her jaw _dropped_ when the thing didn't even come close.

"Better luck next time." The man gave her a sympathetic look that oozed condescending and she glared at him before smacking down four more dollars.

"Another round!"

"Uh...Merida?"

"Ah'll be just a second! Ah I wasn't focused is all!" Merida waved off the other girl stubbornly knowing what she might be hinting at and refusing to accept it but once she fired through yet another round and still didn't manage to knock all the bottles over she threw her head back and groaned. This went on until Merida's pocket was empty and she stood in front of the booth glaring up at the man who was clicking his tongue at her.

"Not everyone has a good arm, nothing to be ashamed about." He shrugged innocently. _Too_ innocently in Merida's opinion.

"Och ah'll show ya' a good ar-" A hand was placed over Merida's and she whirled around to face whoever dared try to calm her wrath only to be met with the soft gaze of her date.

"Merida its rigged, here I'll show you!" Taking out her own purse she placed her money on the counter and smiled sweetly up at the vendor. "May I have three balls, please?"

"Why of course little lady." Three balls were placed in front of her and Rapunzel smiled again before she experimentally tossed the ball into the air and then at the stack of bottles in front of her. Despite what she'd said to Merida she still frowned when she came _just_ short of knocking all the bottles over just as the other had and brought another round herself.

Before they knew it they were somewhere between competing with each other and battling the vendor and his _evil_, completely rigged, game until the carnival closed.

_But, in the end Rapunzel **did** get her Chameleon._

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><p><strong>Words: 823<strong>


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